PHILADELPHIA — There were two outs and none on, and the score was tied. But in the top of the ninth inning, for the Yankees, it felt like a deficit.
Because if the Yankees did not score here, they were looking at trying to preserve a tie in the bottom of the ninth with Phil Coke facing a pinch-hitter, then the top of the Phillies’ lineup, and with all the momentum on Philadelphia’s side and a heaving, roaring crowd at full throat.
But the problems did not end there for the Yankees.
Because what could not be ignored at that moment was Cliff Lee waiting on full rest tonight and the sudden potential that the Yankees were going to go home trailing in the 105th World Series, one loss away from the end.
Instead, they are now win away from a 27th title because it just is so darn hard to get 27 outs against this relentless bunch.
“What we did tonight,” Derek Jeter said, “you hope you don’t have to do a lot.”
But the Yankees have done it plenty. The symbol of this team, to a large degree, became a whipped cream pie to the face, delivered by A.J. Burnett at the end of a walk-off win; delivered because an opponent could not stop the Yankees in the end.
Somehow two out, none on, and a foot in the grave became a three-run surge, became a 7-4 triumph that gave the Yankees a three-games-to-one lead. Now Burnett will try his most important delivery yet to close out this Series tonight against his fellow Arkansas native, Lee.
The Yankees won for many reasons, but mostly because Johnny Damon had an at-bat reminiscent of Paul O’Neill’s 10-pitch battle against Armando Benitez in the ninth inning of Game 1 of the 2000 Subway World Series.
Damon fell behind 1-2. Lidge was throwing his fastball with life, his slider with bite; it felt like 2008 all over again when his perfection fueled a Phillies championship. But Damon worked the count full and, on the ninth pitch of the battle, a fifth straight fastball, this one at 94 mph, Damon lined a single to left.
A day after Halloween, the Yankees were again Michael Myers, hard to kill. Lidge had them down, Damon made sure they did not die. These Yankees are just hard to finish off.
“The whole key to the whole inning was an unbelievable, tenacious at-bat by Johnny Damon,” Alex Rodriguez said.
On the first pitch to Mark Teixeira, Damon swiped second, popped up, noticed nobody covering third because the Phillies had a massive shift on and simply kept going. So Damon had stolen two bases and robbed Lidge’s focus. Because Lidge reverted to the guy who blew an MLB-high 11 saves during the season. In the span of the next four pitches, he hit Teixeira with a pitch and allowed a go-ahead RBI double to A-Rod.
Of course, the inning came down to Lidge vs. Rodriguez, because somehow the moment — good or bad — always seems to find A-Rod. But it has been mostly good this year, and it was great here.
“I never had a bigger hit,” Rodriguez said.
Coke sat down, Rivera got up and Jorge Posada delivered a two-run single. Rivera is no Lidge. He got three outs without the ball leaving the infield.
“We like to think it is difficult,” Jeter said about not only getting the Yankees down, but keeping them down.
The Yankees actually had to get up after blowing a late lead. CC Sabathia, on three days’ rest, yielded a Chase Utley homer with two out in the seventh. Then Joba Chamberlain, after blowing away the first two hitters of the eighth with his most electric fastball of the year, yielded a tying homer to Pedro Feliz. So one out from handing off to Rivera, four outs from victory, the Yankees were tied.
Suddenly, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel looked like a genius for saving Lee on full rest for tonight, it was looking so much better that the Phils were going to tie the Series in a game started by their fourth starter against the Yankees’ ace. The Phillies were showing just how championship tough they were. Coke was about to be on the menu.
Lidge got the 25th and 26th Yankees outs. Two down, none on, ninth inning. Trouble was lurking. But once again, getting that 27th out against the hard-to-kill Yankees did not come easy, and so now what is on the menu is a 27th title. First crack tonight.